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by bittermoons



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, BNHA References Galore, Epistolary, Fandom Culture, Getting Together, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:27:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26762080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bittermoons/pseuds/bittermoons
Summary: From:Zuko L. <zuko@avatarsoftware.com>To:Sokka A. <sokka@avatarsoftware.com>Cc:All Staff <all@avatarsoftware.com>Subject:Re: Don’t Waste Your Time With My Hero AcademiaDear Sokka,I hope you are having a wonderful day today.In addition to sending the email to everyone who works here, you seem to be under the mistaken impression thatMy Hero Academiais not worth reading or watching. Let me take time out of my day to point out the error of your ways with a point-by-point counterargument.A typo in an email results in office gossip-worthy shenanigans when Zuko discovers that Sokka has a particular disdain for an anime series he's fond of.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 41
Kudos: 258





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**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This fic is told through emails and slack DMs (for those who haven't used it, slack is a messaging platform for work). Familiarity with My Hero Academia/BNHA would probably make this fic funnier but is definitely not required
> 
> A throwaway line that Jet says about Sokka and Zuko from my upcoming ATLA Big Bang fic spiraled into this fic. I blame my enabler crew and everyone on the CTABB discord server (a BNHA server for the dabihawks ship lol, not even ATLA) for egging me on to write this XD Thanks again to [Nami](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Henearxe/pseuds/Henearxe) for egging me along and betaing this :)

**From:** Sokka A. <sokka@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** Ty Lee Z. <tyleez@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Cc:** All Staff <all@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Don’t Waste Your Time With My Hero Academia

Hey Ty Lee,

Following up on what we were talking about at lunch with Suki and Aang, _please_ don’t waste your time watching MHA/BNHA/whatever you call it.

**TL;DR: Don’t read or watch BNHA**

1.) The Protagonist: We talked about how Aang would be an awesome anime protag. Deku, MHA’s protag, on the other hand, is like if Aang were stripped of his entire personality and stuck in hero high school.

2.) The Worldbuilding: According to the BNHA Wiki, it’s canonically supposed to take place 1000 years in the future. This makes absolutely zero sense, considering they still follow the modern education system in Japan. That’s, like, the equivalent of us still using the Medieval education system. Last I checked, I’m neither a priest or a squire, so…

3.) Asspull Powers: There’s a kid with a brainwashing power introduced like partway through who could easily defeat the villains—that’s like how JKR introduced Felix Felicis, which could’ve beat all the bad guys in the earlier books, in _The Half-Blood Prince_ , which is freaking book six out of seven (yes, I know JKR is garbage, but you get the idea). Plus, Knockoff-Aang, aka Deku, has this power that gives him multiple powers. Just. No.

If you’re going to waste your time watching any anime, hmu for better choices. Lunch tomorrow?

Sokka

* * *

**From:** Ty Lee Z. <tyleez@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** Sokka A. <sokka@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Re: Don’t Waste Your Time With My Hero Academia

Umm…Sokka, did you mean to send that to everyone? Zuko, who you may know happens to be one of the most important people in the entire company, is currently typing an impassioned defense of My Hero Academia for you. He’s mumbling something about how it reflects the unbridled elitism of the twenty-first century and its relevance under late-stage capitalism. He’ll probably elaborate (≧ _ω_ ≦)

See you at lunch tomorrow!!! (Zumba Monday?)

Ty Lee

* * *

**From:** Sokka A. <sokka@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** Ty Lee Z. <tyleez@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Re: Re: Don’t Waste Your Time With My Hero Academia

Do you mean Zuko as in Aang’s and Toph’s wushu buddy? The guy that they keep trying to set me up with? Toph told me this: “Zuko’s as stupid and as single as you are, so you’re perfect for each other.” 

Tell Zuko to bring it on. BNHA sucks! I’ll defend that with my honor.

I’m down for Zumba, too. Aang says he’s also free.

Sokka

* * *

**From:** Zuko L. <zuko@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** Sokka A. <sokka@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Cc:** All Staff <all@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Re: Don’t Waste Your Time With My Hero Academia

Dear Sokka,

I hope you are having a wonderful day today.

In addition to sending the email to everyone who works here, you seem to be under the mistaken impression that _My Hero Academia_ is not worth reading or watching. Let me take time out of my day to point out the error of your ways with a point-by-point counterargument.

**TL;DR: BNHA isn’t as bad as Sokka says it is.**

1.) The Protagonist: Nobody reads shonen manga for the protagonist. Period. BNHA runs in Weekly Shōnen Jump, a cutthroat magazine where a weekly popularity poll decides whether series are cut or get to stay. Under these circumstances, boring protagonists are the norm. Deku is no exception (though I admit I was amused when you compared him to Aang), and I found your MyAnimeList via Ty Lee and saw that you rated _Kimetsu No Yaiba_ higher than BNHA despite Tanjirou also being a one-note character. I think there’s still a lot to like in BNHA even if Deku can be pretty meh. Have you read any of the villain-focused arcs?

2.) The Worldbuilding: Again, I will concede your point has merit. There is absolutely no way, technologically speaking, that BNHA takes place 1000 years in the future. Personally, I choose to ignore this and pretend that it takes place at most several generations in the future, and if you do that, everything makes sense. BNHA is a product of a 21st century Japanese society and a reflection of the flaws of a society not much different than ours today.

3.) Asspull Powers: Yeah, the brainwashing power is broken, but One For All, the Quirk you claim is overpowered, isn’t broken. It’s one of those powers that requires the magic of friendship and character development and serves as a motivating force for the protagonist. This is necessary for the soft magic system that BNHA operates under.

If you object to any of my points, I urge you to ping me on Slack and we can discuss this further. To anyone else who’s reading this, give BNHA a chance before you dismiss it as a dumb kid’s show. There’s insightful commentary on institutional power (not on the level of a college philosophy class, but better than the average shonen manga) that you won’t get unless you watch all of it.

Best,

Zuko

* * *

**From:** Suki X. <suki@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** Sokka A. <sokka@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Re: Re: Don’t Waste Your Time With My Hero Academia

What the hell, Sokka? I’m not even going to ask why you sent that email to everyone. Zuko was supposed to be working with my team, and I think you broke him.

He’s participating in Happy Hour right now for the first time in ages and has been asking around about you. I would suggest you avoid the fourth floor open bar until tensions die down.

This is entirely your fault. I was going to try to set you up with him, but you’ve broken him more thoroughly than the time you broke half our website when you accidentally pushed the wrong code.

— — —

 **Suki Xia**

Avatar Software

* * *

**From:** Sokka A. <sokka@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** Suki X. <suki@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Re: Re: Re: Don’t Waste Your Time With My Hero Academia

Dude! Stop calling me out for the time I broke the website! I only broke it for ten minutes before someone noticed, remember?

Yes, sending the email to everyone was an accident. I meant to send it to Aang, and ‘All Staff’ popped up because I spelled Aang’s name as ‘Al’ as in ‘Albert’ or ‘aluminum.’ I can _feel_ you rolling your eyes at me from the fourth floor, stop it, Suki :(((((

Ha. Zuko sounds like a total prick. He’s probably one of those pretentious losers who makes those 30-minute-long anime review videos you see on YouTube or writes entire essays on Tumblr analyzing the intricacies of his favorite characters. Fuck the bug fixes, Jet and Aang can deal with that, and I’m heading out via the stairs and not the elevator (getting in that daily workout, hell yeah). See you Monday at Zumba.

Sokka

* * *

This is the start of your conversation with **Zuko Lam**.

**Sokka Ayuluk:** I read your email. The one you sent friday

 **Zuko Lam:** I would hope so?

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** and I have objections I would like to discuss

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** with you in person

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** after zumba w/ ty lee, suki, and aang of course

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** can you also accept my linkedin request? dude we’re 2nd degree connections, don’t ignore me like this

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** You are aang’s wushu friend right? And azula’s ‘zuzu’? don’t tell me I got the wrong guy

 **Zuko Lam:** …

 **Zuko Lam:** How do you know Azula?

 **Zuko Lam:** I check LinkedIn maybe once a week.

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** Azula’s friends with ty lee, and ty lee was an intern on my team here once upon a time

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** ok so you weren’t ghosting me

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** but you’re /so/ wrong about Tanjirou. He sucks slightly less than Deku imo

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** in bnha, Quirks suck as a magic system. They’re a soft magic system but not a good one

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** character development for class 1a characters not named bakugou/deku/todoroki is also sorely lacking

 **Zuko Lam:** There are twenty freaking people in Class 1-A, how are they supposed to all get development? At least it’s better than Naruto, which shafted even Sakura, who was on the cover of like half the early volumes.

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** Assassination classroom gave all 20 of them development, so why can’t bnha? Oh, I know why. It’s because it sucksssss

 **Zuko Lam:** Can you hold up with the messages until later? I’m still in a meeting and they’re looking at me weird since it’s obvious I’m not paying attention

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** is that an invitation for me to distract you?

 **Zuko Lam:** No.

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** Yes.

 **Zuko Lam:** No.

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** lolz suki just texted me saying you facepalmed and groaned in the meeting

 **Zuko Lam:** Stop it

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** what’s the magic word?

 **Zuko Lam:** No.

 **Zuko Lam:** Meet me at The Jasmine Dragon at 7 tonight

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** I solemnly accept your challenge for a duel at the jasmine dragon

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** (btw you’re paying for my boba)

* * *

**From:** Mai N. <mai.ng@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** All Staff <all@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Cc:** Ty Lee Z. <tyleez@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Re: Don’t Waste Your Time With My Hero Academia

Attached is the video you’ve all been waiting for. Obligatory warning to not show this to impressionable young eyes.

—

[VIDEO:

The camera is out of focus for a few moments. Indistinct giggling sounds are audible until it focuses on Ty Lee’s face. She is seated at a table at the Jasmine Dragon, and Sokka and Zuko are seated at the table behind her. Both Sokka and Zuko look to be deep in conversation, gesturing animatedly with their hands and with furrowed brows.

“Why are we doing this, again?” Mai grumbles from behind the camera.

“Hi!” Ty Lee chirps. “Before you ask, I’m recording this for posterity…and for everyone at work who wants to see what’s going down.”

She waves behind her at Sokka and Zuko.

“So let me recap what happened. Sokka insulted Zuko’s honor, and I had to drive him here since his sister borrowed his car, and now they’re dueling it out over a kids’ anime.”

Ty Lee gets out of the way of the camera, and Zuko and Sokka come more into focus.

“—clearly have terrible taste in anime.” Zuko slams his boba cup on the table. “I saw you gave _Yu-Gi-Oh_ a ten on MyAnimeList. Seriously?“

“Well, excuse me, princess.” Sokka takes an angry sip of his tea. “Looks like _someone_ can’t get a joke. I caught up with the rest of the the manga over the weekend, and the current arc is, objectively speaking, a mess—”

“That’s because it isn’t even done yet. You’ll see.”

“Dude, the only reason I’m still reading BNHA is because Miruko is my queen and I’d thank her for stepping on me. Oh yeah, that burnt-ass fire villain guy is _hot_ and there’s that theory that he—“

“—is secretly the son of Flame Hero Endeavor—“ Zuko narrows his eyes at Sokka.

“—is a secret time traveler,” Sokka finishes (and from behind the camera, Mai tries and fails to contain a snort at Zuko’s deep scowl). “I’ve read Optimus Prime and Megatron fanfiction better than _My Hero Academia._ As in, fics that shipped them as a couple. Romantically.”

Zuko chokes on his drink and gapes at Sokka. “You can’t be serious. Optimus Prime and Megatron?”

“Oh, I _am_ ,” Sokka crows, victorious grin of glee on his face. “You heard me right the first time. Want recs?”

Zuko frowns at Sokka. “Thanks, but no thanks. If we’re going there, I have some recs that’ll prove you wrong. I’ll send you them…erm…is Slack okay?”

“As long as there’s, you know, nothing funny going on.” Sokka wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, and Zuko scowl-laughs in response. “Maybe you can convince me that BNHA is as good as Season 4 of _Yu-Gi-Oh,_ which was the worst season.”

“Don’t put BNHA and _Yu-Gi-Oh_ on the same level, you—you _Transformers_ superfan—”

“Says the guy who defended _My Hero Academia_ in front of the entire company!”

“ _My Hero Academia_ talks about the inherent elitism and inequality that comes from having a society based on something innate like Quirks that’s inspired by modern notions of education—”

Sokka shakes his head. “It’s not that deep,” he says. “It’s made for freaking ten-year-old boys to fulfill their power fantasies of secretly being Deku.”

“Nuh-uh.” Zuko waves his arms wildly and accidentally drops a piece of bok choy from his chopsticks, and Sokka snickers. “You’re wrong.”

Zuko glares at Sokka, who pretends to look serious again.

“We should cut now before it gets too steamy,” Mai says, and the video fades to black.]

* * *

**From:** Jet Z. <jet@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** All Staff <all@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Cc:** Ty Lee Z. <tyleez@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Re: Re: Don’t Waste Your Time With My Hero Academia

holy shit this is amazing. who would’ve known? zuko and sokka. I ship it. We need to come up with a ship name.

* * *

**From:** Sokka A. <sokka@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** All Staff <all@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Cc:** Ty Lee Z. <tyleez@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Re: Re: Re: Don’t Waste Your Time With My Hero Academia

No, we do not need to come up with a ship name. Zuko is my mortal enemy because he unironically likes BNHA.

Sokka “BNHA Hater 4 Lyfe” Ayuluk

Sent from my iPhone

* * *

**From:** Jet Z. <jet@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** All Staff <all@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Cc:** Ty Lee Z. <tyleez@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Re: Re: Re: Re: Don’t Waste Your Time With My Hero Academia

Three words: enemies to lovers.

* * *

**From:** Sokka A. <sokka@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** All Staff <all@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Cc:** Ty Lee Z. <tyleez@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Don’t Waste Your Time With My Hero Academia

Three words: no, no, and no.

Sokka

P.S. Aang’s getting antsy since you’ve been watching anime, munching popcorn loudly, and very clearly not reviewing his code.

* * *

**From:** Zuko L. <zuko@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** All Staff <all@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Reminder for everyone

Hello all,

With great power comes great responsibility, and it has come to my attention that certain people at Avatar are taking too much pride in the ability to email everyone at once. With that said, I would like to gently remind everyone to not abuse this power. Less important messages should go in Slack and not email so that irrelevant people don’t waste their time.

I’m looking forward to seeing many of you at the new feature launch party in two weeks. We are entering a new phase here at Avatar, and with it, the way we communicate via means like email and Slack needs to be adjusted as our team grows.

Best,

Zuko

P.S. Go read or watch BNHA.

—

 **Zuko Lam** (he/him/his)

Avatar Software

Director of Product

* * *

**From:** Sokka A. <sokka@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** Zuko L. <zuko@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Re: Reminder for everyone

Whoa there, passive aggressive much? You could’ve just sent it to me rofl, but no, you had to email everyone. Bad Zuko.

Guess who’s working on that new feature (and procrastinating on fixing bugs from the beta version right now)? Yep, you guessed it. The Big Boss Kyoshi’s making me do a talk at the party about the challenges we faced bringing this baby to market, and if you don’t want me to roast you, I demand weekly boba from The Jasmine Dragon. Add two servings of hot pot on top of that.

Sokka

-

Sokka (he/him pronouns)

Avatar Software

a small fry software engineer

* * *

**#the-gaang**

WELCOME TO THE GAANG DON’T ADD PPL TO THIS CHANNEL W/OUT PERMISSION FIRST AND HAVE A NICE DAY WHOOOOOO!!!!

**\---**

**Aang Tashi:** My favorite Super Smash Bro **@Sokka** I heard you and Zuko are dating?

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** WHO TOLD YOU THAT

 **Aang Tashi:** we should add Zuko to this channel too! if we’re all friends, he should be a member of this channel :)

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** WE ARE NOT DATING WHO TOLD YOU THAT

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** NO DO NOT ADD HIM I VOTE NO

 **Aang Tashi:** ummm I saw the video Mai and Ty Lee emailed everyone in the company????

 **Aang Tashi:** I don’t know Sokka, it seemed pretty obvious to me

 **Aang Tashi:** this channel’s also named after me so I can do what I want

**Aang** added **Zuko Lam** to #the-gaang. Welcome, Zuko!

**Sokka Ayuluk:** we have merely deigned to meet up again next week to debate matters of resounding importance to civilization as we know it

 **Mai Ng:** In other words, they’re flirting over anime

 **Zuko Lam:** We are not flirting.

 **Mai Ng:** You were using HeroAca to fucking slide into his Slack DMs

 **Mai Ng:** Flirting using the ‘dabi is a todoroki’ theory wtf

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** no dabi is a time traveler and zuko’s wrongggggg

 **Mai Ng:** Ask him for his number already

 **Zuko Lam:** I would never do something as uncouth as ‘slide’ into anyone’s DMs, Mai

 **Suki Xia:** [popcorn.gif]

 **Sokka Ayuluk:** stop it suki

 **Suki Xia:** ha

* * *

**From:** Sokka A. <sokka@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** Zuko L. <zuko@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Your BNHA Fic Rec

Damn you, Zuko.

The BNHA fic you sent me was equivalent to top-tier Transformers fic. I have to give you that, but having good fics doesn’t make the canon good. (Case in point: the Michael Bay versions of Transformers and Ninja Turtles) I ended up reading all the fics by blue_spirit_fics afterwards, and I hope they someday get into Optimus Prime/Megatron, my true OTP. I guess I now ship Dabi and that chicken wing hero man (lmao does this make me a furry??? the real question) even though I hate BNHA? Thanks, blue_spirit_fics. Your combination of angst and fluff was too freaking potent and I may or may not have been crying in my room at 2AM when Chicken Man lost his wings.

I’ve left a 1000 word-long comment on Ao3 since I’m the best fic reader ever, if you’re curious. And now am here trying to focus on work and not blue_spirit_fics’ exquisite prose.

If you ask, no, this will not delay the feature rollout, so get off my case, Zuko.

Sokka

* * *

**From:** Zuko L. <zuko@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** Sokka A. <sokka@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Re: Your BNHA Fic Recs

Dear Sokka,

I’m glad I could convert you to dabihawks. I’m sure blue_spirit_fics will appreciate your comment. If you need more time because the fic made you too distressed to work, let me know and I will go talk to your manager.

Who knows? Maybe it’s possible that blue_spirit_fics could someday get into Transformers. See you at hot pot Saturday.

Zuko

* * *

**From:** Sokka A. <sokka@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** Zuko L. <zuko@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Re: Re: Your BNHA Fic Rec

Dude thanks for paying for the hot pot!

Bro bro bro did you see blue_spirit_fics’ latest update? Oml that prose is so *chef’s kiss* perfection, and that character development is so aaaaaaaa. I’ll be screaming to you about it over hot pot again over the weekend (on me this time).

But oh my god, I’m paraphrasing because I’m too lazy to find it since the fic is so long, but there was a bit about burns and scars should be badges of honor and signs that both Dabi and Hawks survived the horrors of the Hero Industrial Complex in the BNHA world, and I’m fucking crying in the club over here while trying to focus on work. I’m kinda angry at Blue Spirit for doing this to me. They just write too well, and I’m kinda scared to see what will happen.

* * *

**From:** Zuko L. <zuko@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** Sokka A. <sokka@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Re: Re: Your BNHA Fic Recs

Dear Sokka,

Rest assured that Blue Spirit has historically been a fan of happy endings, so I’m pretty sure the fic is going to end happy. I’m glad you have finally acknowledged the terribleness of the Hero Industrial Complex in BNHA. We should definitely discuss it over hot pot on Saturday.

Zuko

* * *

**From:** Sokka A. <sokka@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** Zuko L. <zuko@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Aaaaaahhhhh

Hey Zuko,

I didn’t mean to put you on the spot at hot pot. I wasn’t making fun of you, I don’t care if you’re Blue Spirit or not. You’re a cool dude, and you could kick my ass with your crazy wushu warrior skillz and I have self-preservation instincts. Please don’t keep ghosting my Slack DMs. I’ll even tell everyone to watch BNHA. Please? ;;w;; pls Zuko

Sokka

* * *

**From:** Sokka A. <sokka@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** Zuko L. <zuko@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Aaaaaahhhhh Pt. 2

Heya Zuko,

Can you please respond to my Slack DMs? Pretty please with a cherry on top?

I’m kinda freaking out, bro. Haven’t heard from you in a couple weeks and Aang and Toph say you’ve missed wushu practice.

Sokka

* * *

**From:** Sokka A. <sokka@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** Zuko L. <zuko@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Aaaaaahhhhh Pt. 3

Ugh if you don’t want to respond to me at least take care of yourself. Mai said you fell asleep at the office because you haven’t been sleeping enough at home.

Sokka

* * *

**From:** Avatar Events <events-noreply@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** All Staff <all@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Rollout Launch Party!

Come listen to Sokka's tech talk about what he and his team have been working on for the past year—we will have fancy catering! Please join us on the fourth floor for Happy Hour afterwards. This week we have special cocktails. See more details in the flyer attached if you’re interested in either the party or this week’s Happy Hour drinks!

* * *

**From:** Mai N. <mai.ng@avatarsoftware.com>, Suki X. <suki@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** All Staff Except Sokka and Zuko <all_minus_two@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Cc:** Ty Lee Z. <tyleez@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Status Update

Good afternoon,

Many people have asked for status updates on The Email Incident, so we (Suki and Mai) have decided to take matters into our own hands as the embittered exes of Sokka and Zuko, respectively, and compiled a quick update on everything that has transpired thus far.

Based on our observations of these two idiots in the wild, we have concluded they have gone on no less than four boba and two hot pot dates while discussing the intricacies of Optimus Prime/Megatron fanfiction. However, because of what happened on these dates, Zuko and Sokka aren’t talking to each other. Please watch the videos! We would like to recruit your help to get them together.

[VIDEO:

Ty Lee is seated in the back corner of a hot pot restaurant, and Zuko and Sokka are visible in the corner. A large potted plant behind her is obscuring her from their view.

“This is Ty Lee, reporting from Zuko’s fave hot pot place! Mai and Azula sent me here for recon purposes.” She giggles, covering her mouth to keep the sound down.

“…I still can’t believe you rated _Kimetsu No Yaiba_ and _Yu-Gi-Oh_ higher than BNHA on MyAnimeList.” Zuko shakes his head while dueling with Sokka over the same piece of meat in the hot pot. “Even after you read all those BNHA fics.”

“Hey, have you _seen_ Seto Kaiba? He was my bi awakening. And dude, good fics don’t necessarily mean good canon.” Sokka manages to seize the piece of meat from Zuko, and Ty Lee giggles again. “Though I’m mad at you since I was in a funk all day after finishing blue_spirit_fics’ hundred-thousand word epic about the evils of BNHA’s hero industrial complex at both the micro and macro levels—“

Zuko eyes Sokka and sighs, accepting that Sokka has won the battle for the best piece of meat in the pot. “You liked the fic?”

“Did I like it? Fuck, bro, it probably gave me an existential crisis. Oh yeah! I started following blue_spirit_fics on social media, and I think they live nearby based on their location on Twitter and the stuff they retweet.”

“You think?” Zuko visibly tenses up.

“I’d like to meet them and tell them they’re the only good part of BNHA, y’know?”

“I’m sure they can tell from your comments.” Zuko puts down his chopsticks and crosses his arms.

Ty Lee can be heard giggling again, and the video ends there.]

On their latest date, the unthinkable happened. We only have an audio recording here:

[AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION: There is white noise in the background as Sokka mumbles something indistinct.

 **Zuko:** What was that?

 **Sokka:** Did you see that blue_spirit_fics wrote an Optimus Prime and Megatron fic? I was just shocked. It was a total crack fic that was, like, five hundred words long, but it was really funny.

 **Zuko:** Really.

 **Sokka:** You don’t think it’s weird? I don’t think they’re even into Transformers.

 **Zuko:** Hmph. Sometimes people write fics for friends when they’re not in a fandom. That happens. Sometimes.

 **Sokka:** Dude, wouldn’t it be so galaxy brain if you were blue_spirit_fics?

 **Zuko:** What. No. You’re wrong, Sokka, I’m not.

(There’s a long pause.)

 **Sokka:** Objection! Your reaction is enough for me to suspect you.

 **Zuko:** _Oh my god._

 **Sokka:** So you _are_ blue_spirit_fics! Holy crap.

 **Zuko:** I never said I was.

 **Sokka:** Uh-huh, right. And the sky’s purple.

The recording ends there.]

After their date, Zuko started ghosting Sokka’s emails and Slack DMs (when they weren’t work-related), and now Sokka is being ridiculously mope-y and angst-ridden. He’s changed his MyAnimeList rating for BNHA multiple times in the last week. We will neither confirm or deny whether Zuko Lam is blue_spirit_fics, but you can figure it out.

This is where we need **your** help! The feature launch party is next week, and we need a brave volunteer (or two) to make sure Zuko doesn’t skip the party like he’ll absolutely try to. The easiest way to do this is to either goad him or guilt-trip him. It’s the perfect chance to make sure this ridiculous gay pining stops. Sokka needs you, and for the future of our jobs, it’d be in our best interest to help them out.

Thanks in advance. The fate of the universe rests on your shoulders.

Mai and Suki

* * *

**From:** Jet Z. <jet@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** All Staff Except Sokka and Zuko <all_minus_two@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Cc:** Ty Lee Z. <tyleez@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Re: Status Update

i volunteer as tribute folks—wait did zuko legit write transformers fic? as a proud fan of optimus prime/megatron, i approve

* * *

**From:** Mai N. <mai.n@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** All Staff Except Sokka and Zuko <all_minus_two@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Cc:** Jet Z. <jet@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Re: Re: Status Update

Please keep your ships outside of work, Jet.

—Mai

* * *

[LIVE VIDEO:

“Hi everyone! This is Ty Lee reporting live from the feature launch party! We’ve decided to stream it for everyone at Avatar who might be interested in the technical details they’ll be talking about…and maybe something else, too.” Ty Lee giggles.

Someone is loudly complaining in the background, voice indistinct until Zuko enters the frame.

“Hi, Zuko!” Ty Lee chirps, holding out her mic for Zuko. “What brings you to the party? I thought you weren’t going to come.”

Zuko has dark circles under his eyes. “I didn’t, but Jet said he would make me pay for a pizza party for the entire company if I didn’t.”

“Oho?” Ty Lee quirks an eyebrow.

“...and Mai said I had to or else she’d tell Sokka my ff.net username,” Zuko adds. “So he can read _everything_ I wrote when I was thirteen.”

The camera pans to the front of the room, where Sokka is doing a mic check and pulling up his slides, flipping through fancy technical diagrams to make sure they work. He’s holding up a cup of coffee in his free hand.

“Now, let’s introduce Sokka!” Ty Lee says. “Sokka’s been hard at work on squashing bugs and building features, and I’m sure he’ll have many words of wisdom about his work and life.”

Many of the other employees milling around all suddenly glance at Zuko before looking away. Mai is at the table with the free fancy cake, and she glares pointedly at Zuko when Sokka starts his presentation.

Zuko pouts, and there’s a close-up of his face that’s uncomfortably awkward before whoever’s behind the camera moves it farther away.

“I really fucked up with Sokka,” he says. “I should’ve never replied to his bait BNHA-hating email. He’s never going to want to talk to me because I spend my free time writing fanfics for a show he doesn’t like. I’ll be a sad, lonely nerd for the rest of my life.”

(Zuko doesn’t appear to be aware that all of this is being streamed live for people not at the party to watch from their desks.)

Ty Lee pats him on his back. “There, there. Don’t worry, Zuko. Someone’s going to think you’re special someday, and that someone might be _very_ close by.”

The camera pans back to Sokka, who clears his throat to get everyone’s attention.

“First of all,” Sokka says. “I don’t want to bore you with the technical details today. We spent a lot of time debating what to name the 1.0 release of the new backend framework, and we settled on Blue Spirit—”

A collective gasp reverberates through the room. Somebody laughs and multiple people cough in the background.

Zuko’s face is beet-red, and he face-palms. “This can’t be happening.”

The next slide has a fancy diagram, but what makes everyone in the room gasp is the slide title.

_Blue Spirit made me give BNHA a 10/10 on MyAnimeList!!!_

“Oh. My. God.” Ty Lee clasps a hand over her mouth as she screams, embracing Zuko once she recovers. “This is true love, everyone!”

In the midst of the chaos, Sokka walks away and nobody spares him a second glance. He stops in front of Zuko.

“You didn’t,” Zuko says. “There’s no way you gave it a ten.”

Sokka scratches the back of his neck. “Uh, I did? You can check my account. I still don’t like BNHA that much, but I...uh, I like you, bro. Like, in a non-platonic, totally romantic, and not only a bromantic way. I thought you being blue_spirit_fics was really cool—you’re really talented, man. I was bursting into tears while trying to fix bugs.”

“Okay, okay, I get it, I’m an awful person,” Zuko says, and Ty Lee lets go of him and makes hearts with her hands at the camera lens. “Um, I like you, too. Like how Dabi likes Hawks. I mean, not in that enemies to lovers way, but…”

Sokka reaches out for Zuko’s hand, and a collective _“_ Aww _”_ can be heard in the background.

“ _We_ don’t need to have adventures worthy of hundred-thousand word fics, but...wanna go on a real hot pot date with me, Zuko? Be my blue spirit.”

Zuko looks into Sokka’s eyes. “Of course, Sokka.”

Everyone else in the room starts clapping, and some people (namely, Jet) start hollering. Zuko and Sokka embrace, and the video cuts there as Sokka and Zuko start kissing with too much tongue to keep it rated G.]

* * *

**From:** Sokka A. <sokka@avatarsoftware.com>

 **To:** All Staff <all@avatarsoftware.com>

 **Subject:** Don’t Waste Your Time With My Hero Academia, Pt. 2

Hey everyone,

Thanks for helping me with Zuko at the launch party. Mai and Suki have been pestering me to update everyone (since apparently all of you want to know the details?). I bet Zuko’s gonna kill me for abusing the power of all@avatarsoftware.com, but we’re dating for real. I’ve come to see that BNHA isn’t as terrible as I first thought. Honestly, it sucks, but since Zuko likes it and can write amazing fic from it, I have to concede that it might be better than the average Optimus Prime/Megatron fic. The key word here being might.

Until next time,

Sokka

[Photo: Zuko falling asleep on a couch in front of a TV paused in the middle of a BNHA theme song with Deku looking ready for battle. Sokka is doing the victory sign at the camera.]

**Author's Note:**

> Lolol hope you laughed at least once! Zuko would be the type to have loads of cringey fics on his ff.net, and they are both huge nerds. I have to credit [ https://twitter.com/incorrect_lov](https://twitter.com/incorrect_lov) for the Dabi Time Traveler theory, which is so ridiculous it's great. 
> 
> If you enjoyed and/or also are a BNHA fan, feel free to leave a comment! lol I'd be extremely shocked if you managed to leave a 1000-word comment though, so no pressure :DDDD
> 
> tumblr: <https://bittermoonswrites.tumblr.com>  
> twitter: <https://twitter.com/bittermoonss>
> 
> My internet home is CTABB (chicken tendies and bacon bits), home to complete chaos and crazy fun! 
> 
> CTABB's twitter: [ https://twitter.com/ctabbserver](https://twitter.com/ctabbserver)


End file.
